1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voice reproduction apparatus which receives an identifying signal from a transmitting unit and reproduces voice data, and to a voice reproduction system which employs the voice reproduction apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In amusement parks, museums, theme parks, etc., portable voice reproduction apparatuses are used for providing vocal announcements such as guidance for respective sites visited. A user takes this voice reproduction apparatus to the front of a desired site or the like, and can listen to voice data such as guidance, explanation, etc. corresponding to that site, using a speaker, a headphone, an earphone, or the like.
A portable voice reproduction apparatus receives an ID signal (identifying signal) sent from a transmitting unit installed in the neighborhood of an exhibit or in a place where voice information is needed. Then, in accordance with the received ID signal, the voice reproduction apparatus reproduces and outputs, through a speaker or an earphone, voice information related to the received ID signal from among a plurality of voice data stored in a memory or the like in advance.
In the above described portable voice reproduction apparatus, it is possible that explanation in a foreign language such as English is recorded in advance for users who can not understand Japanese such as tourists from abroad. Thus, a user can perform key operation to select a reproduction number of an explanation corresponding to a desired site or the like, so as to listen to and understand the explanation in that foreign language.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-250863 discloses a wireless guide system in which a receiver for giving guide information is installed in advance at a site to be visited. When the receiver receives an ID code and a function code sent intermittently from a transmitter carried by a walker, the voice of the guide information is given through a speaker provided in the receiver.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-32891 discloses a method of and an apparatus for guiding a visually handicapped person. According to that method, along a walking path of a visiting site, there are embedded a memory part which stores identifying data corresponding to that place or the like and a transmitting part which transmits data from the memory part, and the data transmitted from the transmitting part is received by a receiving part provided in a tip portion of a white stick or the like carried by a visually handicapped person for selecting and reproducing a guide voice for guiding him.